Just Stop Oil climate activists have clashed with a motorist who said he was trying to take his partner to hospital as they blocked a road in London.
The Metropolitan Police said officers were on the scene quickly and 26 arrests were made for wilful obstruction of the highway.
Around 30 protesters gathered on Shoreditch High Street at the junction of Great Eastern Street at around 12.15pm on Saturday where they set up a road block to disrupt traffic.
Image: Protesters block a road on Shoreditch High Street just after noon on Saturday. Pic: Just Stop Oil/Twitter
Image: The motorist was telling protesters to ‘move out of the way’ so he could drive his partner to hospital. Pic: Just Stop Oil/Twitter
Several individuals “locked on” and glued themselves onto the road surface, adding that specialist officers were required to attend to carry out de-bonding, police said.
Footage posted on its official Twitter account showed pedestrians and drivers growing angry at the demonstrators as they urged them to move.
In a clip, a driver tells the group sitting on the road to “move out the way” as another man appears and drags one of the protesters to the pavement.
After stopping his vehicle, the driver was heard telling the protesters: “My missus is not well, mate. She needs to get to the hospital. Get out of the f******* way, mate.
More on Climate Change
Related Topics:
He added: “Have some respect for other people, not just yourselves, yeah. There’s other people that need to get places.”
Saturday marks the 15th day of demonstrations linked to the group – which wants the government to stop issuing all new oil and gas licences.
Advertisement
Image: Pedestrians and motorists are seen getting angry at protesters calling them to move. Pic: Just Stop Oil/Twitter
Elsewhere in the city, Animal Rebellion supporters poured milk over the floors and over other dairy products at luxury store Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly.
A clip posted to the group’s social media showed activists emptying milk bottles as shoppers and staff quietly looked on, as the group calls on the government to support farmers in a transition to a plant-based food system.
Image: An Animal Rebellion supporter pours milk over the floors at Fortnum & Mason. Pic: Animal Rebellion/Twitter
The women walked into the gallery in London’s Trafalgar Square and threw the contents of two tins of Heinz tomato soup over the famous 1888 painting, which has an estimated value of £72.5m.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:57
Soup thrown over Van Gogh painting
Anna Holland, of Westgate Road in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Phoebe Plummer, 21, of Elms Road in Clapham, south London, are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday charged with criminal damage to the frame of the painting.
The force added that 28 arrests were made in total in relation to protests in central London on Friday.
Lora Johnson, 38, of Keens Lane, Reydon, Southwold in Suffolk, are also due to appear in the same court.
Image: The climate change group gathered at the junction of Great Eastern Street on Saturday
Johnson is charged with criminal damage after the main sign outside New Scotland Yard was covered with yellow paint on Friday.
Demonstrators also blocked the road in front of the Metropolitan Police’s headquarters during Just Stop Oil’s action.
Police said 25 other people have been bailed pending further inquiries.
Image: A Just Stop Oil protester stands next to a sign she spray painted outside New Scotland Yard
Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Saturday unveiled plans for a major crackdown on the kinds of protests typically undertaken by climate activists – as she pledged to stop demonstrators holding the public “to ransom”.
She said she will give the police new powers to take a more “proactive” approach to some protests, with some of the measures specifically targeted at the tactics used by some environmental groups.
Labour MP Dan Norris has been arrested on suspicion of rape and child sex offences.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Dan Norris MP was immediately suspended by the Labour Party upon being informed of his arrest.
“We cannot comment further while the police investigation is ongoing.”
Police said a man in his 60s had been arrested on Friday on suspicion of sexual offences against a girl, rape, child abduction and misconduct in a public office.
Sky News has contacted Mr Norris for comment.
Mr Norris, 65, defeated Jacob Rees-Mogg to win the new seat of North East Somerset and Hanham in last year’s general election.
He has also lost the party whip in the House of Commons and has stepped down from his role as chair of the League Against Cruel Sports.
Avon and Somerset Police said in a statement: “In December 2024, we received a referral from another police force relating to alleged non-recent child sex offences having been committed against a girl.
“Most of the offences are alleged to have occurred in the 2000s, but we’re also investigating an alleged offence of rape from the 2020s.
“An investigation, led by officers within Operation Bluestone, our dedicated rape and serious sexual assault investigation team, remains ongoing and at an early stage.
“The victim is being supported and given access to any specialist help or support she needs.
“A man, aged in his 60s, was arrested on Friday (April 4) on suspicion of sexual offences against a girl (under the Sexual Offences Act 1956), rape (under the Sexual Offences Act 2003), child abduction and misconduct in a public office. He’s been released on conditional bail for enquiries to continue.
“This is an active and sensitive investigation, so we’d respectfully ask people not to speculate on the circumstances so our enquiries can continue unhindered.”
Mr Norris first entered Parliament when Tony Blair came to power in 1997 and served as the Wansdyke MP until 2010.
He was an assistant whip under Mr Blair and served as a junior minister under Gordon Brown.
Mr Norris has also been West of England mayor since 2021 but is due to step down ahead of May’s local elections.
A spokesman for the League Against Cruel Sports, a UK-based animal welfare charity which campaigns to end sports such as fox hunting and game bird shooting, confirmed he had stepped down from his role.
“The charity cannot comment further while an investigation is ongoing,” a statement said.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.
JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.
“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”
The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.
“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.
Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.
All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.
Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.
Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.
Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.
In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.
Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.
They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.
The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.
Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.
“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.